There is an increasing demand for high step-up ratio converters that are able to efficiently interface low-voltage high-current energy sources with utility grids. For example, this demand is present in power electronics systems that include batteries as energy storage elements. This demand is also present in emerging applications like energy processing from renewable energy sources, such as photovoltaic panels and fuel cells.
As a particular example, in the application field of photovoltaic panels (i.e. solar power), there is an increasing interest in the development of converters to interface single photovoltaic panels with utility grids. This would allow power generated by a photovoltaic panel to be injected into a utility grid for use elsewhere. While various types of converters have been proposed, they all suffer from various drawbacks.